Blues Guitarist Albert King is said to be one of the “Three Kings” of the blues guitar, along side B.B. King and Freddie King. Born in Indianola, Mississippi he was also known as “The Velvet Bulldozer”. He is an absolutely fantastic blues musician who adopted the trait of playing a right handed guitar left handed so that the strings are opposite with the Low E actually being on the bottom. He is one of the few blues guitarists to play this way. Albert could be described as a minimalist player or a “less is more” sort of player, he didn’t fill his solos with lots of notes but the ones he played, he made count!
Top 5 Songs
Born Under a Bad Sign
Got To Be Some Changes Made
Overall Junction
You’re Gonna Need Me
Shake ‘Em Down
Top 3 Albums
Born Under a Bad Sign
Truckload Of Lovin’
Blues at Sunrise
Discography:
Albums
- 1962 The Big Blues, King Records
- 1967 Born Under a Bad Sign, Stax Records
- 1968 Live Wire/Blues Power, Stax Records
- 1969 Years Gone By, Stax Records
- 1969 King Of The Blues Guitar, Atlantic Records
- 1970 Blues For Elvis – King Does The King’s Things, Stax Records
- 1971 Lovejoy, Stax Records
- 1972 I’ll Play The Blues For You, Stax Records
- 1972 WattStax Wattstax (Compilation), Stax Records (live at the LA Memorial Coliseum 8-20-1972)
- 1973 Blues At Sunset, Stax Records
- 1973 Blues At Sunrise, Stax Records
- 1974 I Wanna Get Funky, Stax Records
- 1974 Montreux Festival (Compilation), Stax Records
- 1974 The Blues Don’t Change, Stax Records
- 1974 Funky London, Stax Records
- 1976 Albert, Tomato Records
- 1976 Truckload Of Lovin’ , Tomato Records
- 1977 I’ll Play the Blues For You, Tomato Records (with John Lee Hooker)
- 1977 King Albert, Tomato Records
- 1979 New Orleans Heat, Tomato Records
- 1979 Chronicle, Stax Records (with Little Milton)
- 1983 San Francisco ’83, (Recorded March 2-10 1983) Fantasy Records
- 1983 Crosscut Saw: Albert King In San Francisco, Stax Records
- 1984 I’m In A Phone Booth, Baby, Stax Records
- 1986 The Best Of Albert King, Stax Records
- 1986 The Lost Session, Stax Records (with John Mayall)
- 1989 Let’s Have A Natural Ball, Modern Blues Recordings
- 1989 Live, Rhino Records
- 1990 Door To Door, Chess Records
- 1990 Wednesday Night In San Francisco, Stax Records
- 1990 Thursday Night in San Francisco, Stax Records
- 1991 Red House, Essential
- 1992 Roadhouse Blues, RSP Records
[edit]Posthumous releases
- 1993 The Ultimate Collection, Rhino Records
- 1993 So Many Roads, Charly Blues Masters
- 1994 The Tomato Years, Tomato Records
- 1994 Funky London, Stax Records
- 1994 Chicago 1978, Charly Records
- 1995 Mean Mean Blues, King Records
- 1995 Live On Memory Lane, Monad Records
- 1996 Hard Bargain, Stax Records
- 1997 Born Under A Bad Sign & Other Hits, Flashback Records
- 1998 Rainin’ In California, Wolf Records
- 1999 Blues Power, Stax Records
- 1999 Live In Canada, Charly Records
- 1999 The Very Best Of Albert King, Rhino Records
- 1999 A Truckload Of Lovin’: The Best Of Albert King, Recall Records (UK)
- 1999 Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session, Stax Records (with Stevie Ray Vaughan)
- 2001 Guitar Man, Fuel 2000 Records
- 2001 I Get Evil: Classic Blues Collected, Music Club Records
- 2001 More Big Blues Of Albert King, Ace Records
- 2001 Godfather Of The Blues: His Last European Tour, P-Vine Records
- 2002 Blue On Blues, Fuel 2000 Records
- 2003 Talkin’ Blues, Thirsty Ear Records
- 2003 Blues From The Road, Fuel 2000 Records
- 2003 Live ’69, Stax Records
- 2004 The Complete King & Bobbin Recordings, Collectables Records
- 2006 Stax Profiles, Stax Records
- 2006 Albert King’s King’s Jump, Charly Records
- 2007 Heat Of The Blues, Music Avenue
- 2007 The Very Best Of, Stax Records
